Improvement in gasometers or gas-holders



NITED STATES PATENT rrron IMPROVEMENT IN GASOMETERS OR vGAS-HOLDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 146,723, dated January 20, 1874; application filed January 17, 1874.

T0 all whom vit may concern:

Beit known that I, Josnrn C. TIFFANY, of Portsmouth, in the county of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gasometers, of which the following is a specification This invention has for its object to construct a gasometer or gas-holder which shall combine lightness with strength, and be proof against atmospherical and hygrometrical influences, and impervious to gas and liquids; and to this end it consists in a gasometer, the body of which is constructed of chemically-prepared paper, treated in such a manner as to render it impervious to air and moisture, and to impart to it the necessary degree of rigidity or iirmness, the body being either formed with a bottom or base of the same material, or said bottom may be made separate of paper or other materials, and be attached to the body by suitable fastening devices, a flexible crown being combined with the rigid body, which is distended or inflated by the pressure of the gas and collapsed when the same is withdrawn. The invention further consists in attaching the crown or flexible top section of t-he gasometer to the rigid body of the same, by means of an angular metallic rim, which is attached to the top of the rigid body, and provided with a horizontal iian ge over which the iiexible crown is drawn, so as to enable it to be secured by an encircling band or hoop of metal or rubber, thus forming an airtight joint at the junction of the parts,

In the accompanying drawings, the invention is represented by a vertical sectional view of the gasometer.

The body A or main portion of the gasometer is constructed of chemically-prepared paper, which is treated according to any of the known processes of rendering paper impervious to air and water. The bottom B, which is generally made concave or dished, to serve as a receptaele for tar, is formed in one piece with the gasometer-body, by molding the parts into,

shape; but it is also proposed to construct the bottom of a separate piece of paper, metal, or other material, and to attach the same to the body by a vertical rim, through which are passed fastening rivets or screws, as shown in material, which is water and gas proof.

the drawing; Tubes or pipes C D enter the gasometer bottom, for the influx and eiiiux of the gas, and said pipes Aare provided with suitable stopcocks. Aliquid-seal tube, E, is applied to the bottom for the escape of tar and sedimentary substances collecting in the gasometer. The body of the gasometer, constructed of paper rendered water and proof, and possessing the requisite degree of rigidity, will be both light and strong, and can be easily manufactured by molding the paper` into shape. A flexible crown or hood, F, constituting the upper section of the gasometer, is made of india-rubber, coated cloth, or other fabric impervious to gas and liquid, and is secured to the rigid paper body in such a manner as to secure a tight joint at the junction of the crown and body. This resultis preferably accomplished by attaching to theiupper edge of the gasometer-body an angular or me' tallic rigid rim, G, which isA providedwith a horizontal top flange, over which the lower edge of the flexible crown is drawn, so as to enable a band or hoop, H, to be passed around the edge of the flexible crown under said horizontal ange, for forming the connection .of the crown with the gasoineter. Said band or hoop H, when made of metal, is provided with disconnected ends, which, after the application of the same, are secured together by a suitable fastening device; and when the band is made of rubber or iexible material, it is slipped over the body of the -gasometer to t over the lower edge of the iexible crown, and to act by compression to clamp it inplace. The crown vor flexible top section of the gas-holder is distendedor inated to its full extent by the gas stored in the same, and as said gas is removed it gradually collapses until it drops within the rigid gasometer-body. The rigid part I make of paper treated with chemicals, such as chloride of zinc, so as to render it gasproof; but it may bemade of any similar light The flexible portion IA make of fabric similarly treated, but it may be made of parchment paper, made by treating paper with acids, o1' of a fabric coated with gelatine and glycerine, 'or of rubber, gutta-percha, or any of the water and gas proof fabrics. A gasometer coivistructed as above described,

is specially designed for .domestic use on steamships, railroad-cars, and in other places Where portable gasometers are employed, and being made of materials which are proof against the action of atmospherical influences and moisture, it may even be located in exposed positions.

Instead of niolding'the gasonietcr-body into shape, it may be constructed of sheets or layers of paper or paper board, Wh ich are turned into the requisite form, and subsequently treated with a Water-proofing composition to render it impervious, for the purposehereinbefore stated.

Irclaim as my invention* l. A gasometer-body constructed of prepared paper, rendered impervious to air and moisture, possessing the requisite degree of stiffness and strength, and provided with a bottom formed with or detachably secured to the body, substantially as set forth.

2. A gasometer composed of a rigid 'body of chemically-prepared paper, and a ilexible crown or top, substantially as herein shown and described.

3. In combination with the gasometer-body and flexible crown, the angular ri'm G and e11- circling band or hoop H of rubber or metal, for attaching the crown to the body, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. A rigid gasometer -body and eXible crown, secured or connected together by a compressible elastic hoop or band, as herein described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 17 th day of January, 1874.

JOSEPH CAPRON TIFFANY.

Witnesses IVW. J. PEYToN, A. H. NoRRIs. 

